Keeping Company
by JoongStarr
Summary: Detainment gets lonely. Good thing Kakashi is there keep him company even if it's just for a short while every day. Not yaoi or shonen-ai. ONESHOT


**A/N: **I haven't written a Naruto fanfic in quite some time mostly because I didn't have a laptop and never felt like going back and forth to the education center. But now I have a laptop, I'm not in Afghanistan at the moment (yay!) and I have Microsoft Office 2013. I'm ready to go! Happy reading.

**Disclaimer: **I do NOT own Naruto

How much time had passed since he saw daylight? Two weeks maybe? A month even? Sasuke didn't know and everyone refused to tell him. What good would it do to know anyway? He was depressed and alone. Knowing the length of his stay in prison wouldn't make it go any faster. Sasuke sighed, leaning his back against the cold stone wall and idly began to once again pick at the infected wound on his thigh. He couldn't even feel it anymore. When it first happened Sasuke panicked and tried to get the guard's attention but after some time of it being ignored, he slowly but surely learned to ignore it too. The Uchiha frowned as he poked and prodded and watched as the tip of his index finger slid through a small section of the wound like butter and the sound of decomposition gas released itself from the pus and layers of dead tissue. At this rate he would lose his leg. Picking away at the septic cut was the only thing he could do to keep his mind busy.

He didn't have the 'privilege' of being roomed with another inmate or going outside like a majority of the other prisoners. He even ate by himself. Tsunade wanted to make sure that Sasuke hated every waking moment of his life until the end of his sentence and so far it was working. With every single agonizingly slow day that passed he could feel himself sinking further and further into depression. He hated everything about this place. He hated the way the sunlight never quite reached his window, the thick coat of dirt and grime that clung to the walls and the heavy smell of piss that permeated throughout the tiny cell. He never imagined he would end up here.

The sound of a door sliding open and footsteps entering the room pulled Sasuke out of his thoughts and just as he expected it was Kakashi-sensei like clockwork, coming to visit him for lunch and as usual he brought books with him from Konoha's public library.

"Hey" Kakashi greeted and made his way over to his usual spot on Sasuke's twin bed and sat down. "How are you holding up?"

Sasuke looked away and let his hand fall away from the abused wound. If Kakashi had seen how bad it had gotten he wasn't saying anything. Then again, Kakashi didn't usually say much else after asking how he was. It was like a quiet routine they had. Kakashi-sensei would come by during lunch to visit - sometimes with new library books in exchange for the ones that were due - and they would sit and read amongst themselves until lunch was over. To someone on the outside looking in it would seem rather pointless to have a visitor come by only to sit in silence but to Sasuke it was the best part of his day. He didn't necessarily need to talk. Having Kakashi's presence around to fill up the nearly empty room was enough. It kind of gave off the same feeling as being stuck in detention and then seeing a good friend walk in to join you.

They sat in the barely lit room for quite some time, a comfortable silence falling around them as Kakashi flipped through pages of_ Icha Icha Paradise_ and Sasuke browsed through the small pile of novels which were mostly action adventure. Sasuke found himself gravitating towards adventure and fantasy novels since his time in prison. He never cared much for them before but now whenever he got his nose stuck in one of those books he felt like his mind traveled far away and into another world for hours giving him a small break from the harsh reality he was in. These books and Kakashi-sensei were the only things keeping him sane.

"Sasuke" Kakashi's cool voice broke the silence causing Sasuke to look up from what he had only just begun to read. For a moment he was silent, his eyes still fixed firmly on the reading material in front of him then suddenly, after what seemed like forever, he spoke again. "This isn't what I wanted for you, you know. This is no place for a sixteen year old."

Sasuke nodded, his fist tightening. He didn't think Kakashi would be the one to bring it up.

"So was it worth it in the end?"

Was it worth it? Of course he had thought about it a few times and wondered to himself the exact same thing but each time he never got any closer to figuring it out. There wasn't a point in answering so instead he decided to play dumb. "Was what worth it?"

"Was trying to destroy Konoha worth losing all of your jutsu and getting sent to prison? Was it worth losing your status as a shinobi?"

Sasuke frowned. Was it? He didn't know. "I don't know. I thought it was at first." He admitted and let his head drop against the wall. What he did know however, is that if he hadn't left the village then none of this would have ever happened. The again, if he hadn't then he probably would have never learned the truth of that night so in a way perhaps it was because now he had at least a little peace of mind knowing that his brother wasn't a monster after all.

"I suppose it doesn't matter now though." Kakashi commented and stood up. His lunch break was almost over.

Almost immediately after seeing the jonin stand up Sasuke could feel the loneliness start to sink back in. This was the worst part about having visitors.

"Before I leave however, I want to tell you something."

"What?"

"I'm not sure if you're sorry for the trouble you've caused, but even if you are, you still have to suffer the consequences of your actions. That is why I haven't pulled any strings to get you out of here. Though I can't say I haven't been tempted."

Sasuke closed his eyes as bile began to rise in his throat and his heart started to pound. Of course he knew that Kakashi could have found a way of getting him out of here or even shortening his sentence to five years instead of ten but to hear his former sensei say it himself made it hurt. He supposed it was because he still held on to the belief that eventually Kakashi would feel sorry for him and try to save him from serving his full time. But he had to remember, as kind as Kakashi was, he believed in punishment. He opened his eyes when he felt Kakashi's presence get closer rather than draw away and saw that Kakashi had crouched down in front of him, his single visible eye burning into his own and Sasuke couldn't help but instinctively move further against the wall although what he secretly wanted to do was scoot a bit forward. It had been so long since he had been close to anyone. He never thought he would miss sitting next to people like Naruto, Sakura and Kakashi-sensei.

"But Sasuke …" Kakashi trailed off and began digging through his pockets and revealed a familiar set of bells. He moved swiftly, grabbing ahold of Sasuke's hand and dropped the bells in the raven's palm. "I think you've suffered enough, don't you?"

Sasuke opened his mouth to speak but the words he wanted to say wouldn't come. Instead, they stuck to his mouth like hard taffy and the bridge of his nose began to burn. The Uchiha blinked, swallowing back the lump in his throat. Did Kakashi-sensei really think so?

"That's why I want you to hang in there and serve your time so you can hurry and get out of here. In the meanwhile, I'll see what I can do to make this easier. Maybe I can get Sakura to come in here and heal that wound." Kakashi said and patted Sasuke on the shoulder before getting up and as usual Sasuke didn't say anything but watched him leave out the door closing it behind him. And just like that he was back to being alone but somehow he felt that everything would be alright and that much more bearable so long as he had Kakashi-sensei to read with him and visit him every day.

**OWARI**

**A/N: **I just pulled that out of my ass but I hope you guys liked it. It's a little different from my usual stuff but I wanted to try something new.


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